From 1996 to 2005 Benza offered a prominent outlet and a worldwide showcase for experimental American design and designers.

The project was the brainchild of industrial designer Giovanni Pellone and graphic designer Bridget Means, who had already collaborated on many design projects for several years.  While disenchanted with the lowest common denominator results of market driven design, Pellone and Means also saw the traditional concerns for form and function as a given.  They thought objects could acknowledge the increasing complexity and intellectual sophistication of our times, be more than just pretty and useful.

Blurring the boundaries between art and design, Benza’s everyday objects are more of a commentary on our daily lives than a solution to our problems: they induce reflection, seduce, demand interaction, entertain, evoke affection.  The collection represents the work of a multicultural group of talented designers, including among others Karim Rashid, Jeffrey Bernett, and Constantin Boym.

Benza’s projects have been featured in the world’s most prominent design publications and have appeared in major design exhibits worldwide, among which are the first National Design Triennial entitled “Design Culture Now” (Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, New York), “Workspheres” (Museum of Modern Art, New York) and “US Design” (Denver Art Museum).